East Asian Federation - Baltic Union First Bilateral Summit
The 2011 East Asian Federation - Baltic Union First Bilateral Summit will take place between East Asian Federation and Baltic Union from May 5th to May 15th, 2011. It will be the first time that the two nations have a high-level diplomatic summit and it is expected that economic and trade matters will be at the core of the meeting. However, it is expected that other aspects of international politics will be addressed, as well as the cooperation of both nations in space and other technology issues. Both countries maintain very good diplomatic ties, and it is expected that this summit will serve to further strengthen cooperation between the two nations. Assistants Government members and officials East Asian Federation *Chief Executive, Kumiko Akimoto *Chief of Operations, Kunio Ikari *State Officer for Foreign Policy, Ri Eun-su *State Officer for Economy, Naoto Kan *State Officer for Transportation, Yoshiyuki Kasai *State Officer for Development, Yan Jie *Deputy State Officer for Energy, Kyousuke Kamijou *State Officer for Defense, Yasukiyo Ôuchi Baltic Union *Prime Minister, Ann Nilsson *Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cristina Björling *Minister of Finance, Tobias Ohlsson *Minister of Transport and Communications, Dagnija Repše *Minister of Trade and Industry, Fredrik Trolgfors *Minister of Energy, Silvie Larsson *Minister of Education and Research, Paula Schjøtt-Pedersen *Officials from Ministry of Defence and AFLO *Officials from The Baltic Union Petroleum Directorate *Officials from Union National Rail Administration Companies or organizations East Asian Federation *Hitachi Ltd. *Kawasaki Heavy Industries *Mitsubishi Heavy Industries *Mitsubishi Electric *Samsung Electronics *Samsung Heavy Industries *Hyasoda Electric *Hyasoda Military Industries *Honda Motor Co. *Sinopec Ltd. *CEC Group *Shenhua Energy *Toyota Motor Co. *Federation Rail *Kocoal *Chuden *Inteden Baltic Union *Statoil *NAtech *NAtech Energy Solutions *Dannemora Group *Kongsberg *Saab *Norsk Hydro *Statkraft *Eesti Energia *Vattenfall *Kings Bay Coal AS *Intex Resources AS *BOLIDEN *RVR Previous targets Government members and officials East Asian Federation *Rebuild international opinion of the Federation in the Western Hemisphere through partnerships **Technological cooperation, particularly aerospace and lunar research **Diversify foreign investments in finance, industry, and technology *Further trade with the Baltic Union, enriching the domestic economy and potentially opening new markets in Europe **Free Trade Agreement Baltic Union *To create new strategic relations outside the traditional Europe-North America ones. *Strengthens the good relations and promote agreements: **Free Trade Agreement. **Agreement on free movement of capital and companies. **Agreement on cooperation in aerospace technology. **Agreement on the exchange of university students and professors. *Establishing a favorable framework to the entry of companies of the Union in EAF and get an advantageous position ahead of the privatization of former chinese state-owned companies. *To attract investment from EAF to strategic sectors of the economy of the Union. (Finance, Oil, energy, steel, shipbuilding, transports and telecommunications.) **EAF is the second largest economy in the wolrd and Union government wants to be Europe's door for EAF companies. **Government could encourage the sale of BU companies as a starting point *Consider agreements in the military field both commercial and operational. Companies or organizations East Asian Federation Baltic Union *Statoil **To Get rights to explore and extract petroleum from Kamchatka region (Statoil is a world leader in offshore technologies and drill in arctic enviroments) **To Get coal operations in China (purchasing single operations, companies or with joint ventures) *NAtech **To Get agreements with EAF vehicle manufacturers to provide and collaborate in fuel cell technologies. *NAtech Energy Solutions **To Look for business oportunities in the construction of IGCC plants with china's coal. *Dannemora Group **To Explore the possibility of expanding their business through the acquisition of iron ore mines and steelworks. *Kongsberg **Looking to sell products (civil or military) to government or shipbuilding industry. Open to collaboration with local industry. *Saab **Looking to sell products or services (civil or military). Open to collaboration with local industry. *Norsk Hydro **Norsk Hydro is looking for new opportunities in the aluminium sector that is considered to be its core business. It is rumored that the company would be interested in looking for a buyer for some of its oil and services business as a way to get cahs to grow in the aluminium market. *Statkraft **Looking for opportunities in the electricity market with the privatization of chinese companies and with the develop of new clean IGCC plants. Open to collaboratin and joint ventures with local companies. *Vattenfall **Looking for opportunities in the electricity market with the privatization of chinese companies and with the develop of new clean IGCC plants. Open to collaboratin and joint ventures with local companies. *Eesti Energia **As a world leader in the clean development and utilization of oil shale, the company expects to participate in the development of the oil shales of Fushun, Liaoning Province, China. *Kings Bay Coal AS **Looking for opportunities in the privatization of chinese coal mines *Intex Resources AS **Looking for opportunities in the privatization of chinese mines and new developmets in Kamchatka *BOLIDEN **Looking for opportunities in the privatization of chinese mines *RVR **RVR is looking for a partnership with some EAF manufacturer of Rolling Stock. RVR wants to get technology to enter the Union (and other european) high speed markets. RVR would agree in joint ventures or even in letting its partner to have a % of RVR shares. It could be a good opportunity for the EAF partner to access the european market where EAF rolling stock manufacturers dont have a good position. Government proposals East Asian Federation *Construction of a demonstration ICZE electric power station in the Nagoya electric zone; To be financed by Kocoal and Chuden, operated by a consortium of a Baltic energy company, Chuden, and a major domestic energy company, with coal supplied by Kocoal. *Investment in the Union's UHS high-speed rail network's construction, expansion, and improvement in services, possibly involving the sale of high-speed rolling stock to operators. *Acquisition of several squadrons worth of Gripen units to diversify Air Forces inventory, and maintain a modern air force on-par with other leading world nations. Baltic Union *The signing of a Free trade agreement that includes all kind of goods, technology and services with exception of military related ones that should be authorized by both governments. *The signing of an agreement on science and technology that enable scientists and technicians from both countries to move freely and work on projects or companies of either of the two countries. This includes a program for mutual recognition of university degrees and collaboration on student exchange programs. Companies or organizations proposals East Asian Federation *Establishment of a Federation Rail-owned, locally-operated and managed subsidiary to possibly operate rail lines in the Baltic Union, headquartered in Vilnius, providing much needed administrative and operations jobs in the Baltic Eastern provinces. *The acquisition of the Union government and Statkraft's shares in Naturkraft by Inteden, to expand its international operations. *The merger of Blue Star Energy with Sinopec, to establish operations in the Union. *China Offshore Oil's purchase of shares in Norsk Hydro's fossil fuels operations. Baltic Union *RVR has contacted Hyunday Roten and Hitachi Rail to discuss a possible partnership with one or both companies together or separately. RVR is looking for a technologic partner that allows the company entering the european market of High Speed Trains. The partnership could be: **The partner takes a part of RVR shares in echange of the licence, technology and engineering. RVR designs and markets a variant of one of the partner models. **A new company is created (RVR High Speed) to manufacture High Speed Trains. The new company is owned by RVR and the partner/s. RVR designs and markets a variant of one of the partner models or develop a completly new model. *A consortium formed by Kings Bay Coal AS and Eesti Energia has contacted EAF government to ask for the purchase of Fushun Mining Group. The consortium plans to build and operate an IGCC plant. The purchase would be finnanced by a group of Union and EAF banks. *NAtech is going to build a new Fuel Cell plant in EAF. The company has contacted Toyota, Honda, Hyunday and other automotive manufacturers from EAF to create a consortium with the goal of develop fuel cell powered cars in EAF. This could be very interesting for EAF internal automotive market and could open Baltic Union and other european markets to EAF manufacturers since fossil fuel automobiles are banned or heavily penalized in some European nations. *A consortium formed by Statoil Coal and Dannemora Group has contacted EAF government to ask for the purchase of Datong Coal Mine Group. The consortion plans to split the power production and metallurgical activities from the coal extraction and processing. The purchase would be finnanced by a group of Union and EAF banks. Agreements Government agreements East Asian Federation - Baltic Union free trade agreement The East Asian Federation – Baltic Union Free Trade Agreement is a bilateral free trade agreement signed between EAF and Baltic Union in May 2011. It is the first free trade agreement that EAF has signed with an european country, and Baltic Union's largest trade deal since the breakdown of the European union. The EAF – Baltic Union FTA was signed on 14th May 2011 in Tokio, after negotiations over three months. It entered into force on 1 June 2011, after ratification by the Union Parliament. The provisions of the agreement are expected to be phased in gradually over 2 years, fully coming into force in 2013. History The idea of such a trade agreement was first formally proposed by the Union Minister of Trade and Industry, to her EAF counterpart on April 2010 during a UN meeting. On June 2010, both ministers agreed to the realization of a feasibility study, which was successfully completed six months later. On January 2011 both governments announced the formal start of negotiations. After several rounds of negotiations that took place in both countries, the FTA was signed on 14th May 2001 during the East Asian Federation - Baltic Union First Bilateral Summit. The agreement Under the agreement, 40 per cent of EAF exports to New Baltic Union and 30 per cent of Baltic Union exports to EAF will be tariff free by June 2011. All tariffs will be eliminated by 2013. Mutual investment and trade in services will also be facilitated as both nations consider themselves "preferent partner". The deal also allows the exchange of specialised workers. This however will be limited to approved occupations and to a maximum of workers in any sector. Both nations will also establish a working holiday scheme enabling up to 2,000 young EAF and Union nationals annually to travel and work in the other nation by 12 months. Both countries have agreed to enhance business visa conditions and processing. Reactions *'Baltic Union': The deal was welcomed by the majority of the Union industry, nevertheless a short number of industries stated that the deal would lead to tougher competition with cheaper-priced EAF products. The Baltic Union Council of Trade Unions opposed the inclusion of workforce in the trade agreement. While the FTA enjoys the support of Baltic Union's largest political parties, some nationalist and far left parties opposed the agreement even before it was signed. Public opinion has supported the FTA; a poll published a week before the signing showed 70% supported the deal while only 12% opposed it. EAF - Baltic Union science and technology agreement The Agreement for scientific and technological cooperation between the East Asian Federation and the Baltic Union aims at encouraging, developing and facilitating activities of scientific and technological cooperation between the two parties to the Agreement. In particular it enables EAF and Union scientists to participate under the same conditions in activities developed by either of the parties. Its objective is to reinforce cooperation between the two parties in common priority areas in which they carry out scientific and technological research and development activities. Areas of cooperative activities are as follows: *environment, *biomedicine and health, *agriculture, *fisheries science, *engineering research, *non-nuclear energy, *natural resources, *materials sciences (including nanotechnology) and metrology, *information and communication technologies (ICTs), *telematics, *biotechnology, *marine sciences and technologies, *social sciences research, *transportation, *security research, *space research, *science and technology policy, management, training and mobility of scientists. Actions carried out concern the implementation of research programmes, technological development and demonstration by promoting cooperation with and between enterprises, research centres, universities, third countries and international organisations. They also aim to encourage the training and mobility of scientists, as well as the dissemination and optimisation of the results of research activities, whilst complying with the provisions for intellectual property. The two parties will facilitate the free circulation of scientists and equipment used for activities covered by this Agreement. Coordination will be carried out by a Joint Consultative Group (JCG) who will meet once a year. This group is composed of a limited and equal number of representatives from each party. It is responsible for evaluating and monitoring the implementation of the Agreement. Its remit also includes determining the sectors where cooperation could be reinforced and to define research priorities. Private agreements *Federation Rail Europe, a wholly owned subsidiary of Federation Rail has been granted a licence to operate railway services in the Baltic Union. *STX Europe (subsidiary of STX) has been granted a licence to become official maintainer of the Royal Union Navy. *Inteden, an EAF based company has pourchased the shares owned by the Baltic Union state in the company Naturkraft as well as the ones owned by Statkraft reaching 45% of the shares. Inteden has launched a takeover to get the 100% of the shares of Naturkraft. *Sinopec has purchased 100% of the shares of Blue Star Energy and acquired its exploration and exploitation rights. *RVR has reached an agreement with Hitachi Rail to start a new joint venture called RVR High Speed. The new company will be based in RVR factory Riga and will develop High Speed trains for the Union and other european markets. *Saab has been awarded a contract to supply Federation Air Forces with 120 Gripen V-G 5th generation fighters in the next two years. This contract will become Federation Air Forces the second largest operator of the Gripen after RUAF *A consortium formed by Kings Bay Coal AS, Dannemora Group and Eesti Energia has purchased Fushun Mining Group. It is the most important business operation of any foreign company in the history of East Asian Federation. The consortium plans to divide the assets between the members and to build and operate an IGCC plant. Some business units will be sold to third parties. The purchase would be finnanced by a group of Union and EAF banks. *A consortium formed by Statoil Coal and Intex Resources AS has purchased the Kailuan Coal Corporation. Category:EAF StorageCategory:The Baltic UnionCategory:Politics